Brussel Sprout and Bacon Salad

We went to Eden Court last month to listen to Ray Mears talk.  For those of you who don’t know him, Mears is a bush-craft expert with a TV programme which I’ve never actually seen.   In his show, apparently,  he goes to remote, inhospitable places and learns from locals how eat when you’ve got no food and make/find shelter when you’ve got no roof.  He was a pretty interesting guy to listen to.

Towards the end of the night Mears took questions from the audience.   Expecting an answer of “maggot stew”, “yak testicles” or “dung-beetle kebab”, a very excited young lad asked, “What’s the most awful thing you’ve ever eaten?”

“Brussel sprouts,” said Ray Mears.

🙂

Brussel Sprouts and Bacon Salad (adapted from The Flavour Thesaurus)

(for 1)

A very thick slice of country bread, torn into pieces

A big  handful of baby Brussel sprouts or normal ones halved

2 rashers of back bacon, chopped roughly

1 clove of garlic, minced

2 spring onions, chopped roughly

1 tspn balsalmic vinegar

Parsley

• Preheat oven to 190oC.  Add the sprouts and torn bread to a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil.  Toss to coat.  Roast in the oven for 12 mins until bread is golden and sprouts are soft and coloured.
• Meanwhile, add the bacon bits to a small hot frying pan with a tiny amount of oil.  Cook until crispy then add the garlic and spring onions.  Cook for another couple of minutes then remove from pan.  Add the vinegar, a splash of water and some pepper to the frying pan and let bubble for a moment.
• Mix the sprouts, bread, bacon etc in a bowl and dress with the juices from the pan.

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